


Tempest

by vioislit



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Angst, Davey suffers oops, Davey-centric, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Panic Attacks, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23514802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vioislit/pseuds/vioislit
Summary: There was no use in delaying the inevitable. He was intimately acquainted with the way his heart raced and his palms dripped with sweat, how his head would pound from the effort of holding back tears.An angst-ridden glimpse into the mind of one David Jacobs, camp counselor extraordinaire. Rated T for general Bad Times and Angst, trigger warnings in notes.(Based on the events of a camp au RP server I used to be in)
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly
Kudos: 22





	Tempest

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Trigger warning for panic attacks and a mental breakdown, this do be angsty doe.  
> Also: I wrote this and another fic back when I was really into Newsies! Not as into it anymore but I decided to put these up anyways.

Davey was trembling. In fact, he had been trembling for the past 6 hours. He had been holed up in his room for even longer. The double whammy of an injured and traumatized Jack, then Nick and Oscar? His calm, collected facade had lasted him through their encounters, but once everything was over, it fled. He had been fine at first, but there was an uncomfortable itch under his skin and an irritating hum in his mind, and they only grew stronger as the days passed.

There was no use in delaying the inevitable. He was intimately acquainted with the way his heart raced and his palms dripped with sweat, how his head would pound from the effort of holding back tears. It was going to happen, so he might as well plan around it. Davey let his co-counselor know he felt a bit sick (he may have used Jack’s excuse) and he agreed to take over for a few days, clearing up his schedule for a good, old-fashioned mental breakdown. 

Many words could be used to describe Davey Jacobs, but ill-prepared was not among them. In the days leading up to the event, he stocked his room with water bottles and granola bars. Not much, but they would do. Then, there was nothing else to do but wait. He waited in increasing dread, which really just made everything worse. 

It hit him late at night. Davey jolted awake, chest heaving and body drenched in sweat. He was frozen in place, hyperventilating and shaking violently. There was nothing he could do other than let the wave of panic crash over him, dragging him deeper into the tempest comprised of his thoughts, worries, and fears. He took several deep, gasping breaths, desperately trying to restore some sense of equilibrium to his surroundings. 

Part of him wanted to call Jack, desperate for some kind of reassurance, but.. Davey couldn’t trouble him with his issues, not when he’d just gone through so much. Just the thought of it caused him to burst into tears, his sobs silenced in the crook of his elbow. What were they going to do? They were barely adults, what impact could they possibly have on the entire situation? Snyder and Wiesel, they were dangerous and cruel. What chance did Jack and Davey have?

Hours passed before he returned to himself. Every spiraling scenario, every discouraging and self-deprecating thought that popped into his head, they swirled around him like a never-ending vortex, blocking all sense of time and reality from really registering. When the tears stopped streaming and he could finally breathe, it had to be around the middle of the day. Filtered light shone from the window, and it was noticeably louder outside than in the dead of night. Davey found himself hunched over, curled up as small as possible and tucked in a corner.

He wiped away the half-dried tears, took a couple of steadier breaths, and forced himself to use the brief respite to rehydrate and eat a couple granola bars. Davey had no idea how long it would be before this would all be over, so… Might as well prepare for another spell. He took a shaky gulp of water, already feeling the unsteady thrumming of his heart starting up again. 

And so the days passed, sluggish and all too fast at once. Davey lived in a state of half-reality, half-panic, and as the walls of his little room started closing in on him and he felt trapped in his own mind, he still resolved, stubbornly, to wait it out alone. Nobody else deserved to deal with his bullshit, and he would much rather stay in his room, isolated from the world. He would be fine. He had to be. But for the time being, he could shatter and try to glue the pieces back together behind the safety of a locked door.


End file.
